Furniture glide



March 16, 1965 w. a. NORDMARK ETAL 3,173,168

' FURNITURE GLIDE Filed May 14 1963 INVENTORS Wall-fer E. NordmarhGerald If Thompson.

WITNESS BY 0 c W Alan/u o. @wunv ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,173,168FURYITURE GLIDE Walter E. Nordmark and Gerald F. Thompson, Grand Rapids,Mich., assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., acorporation of New Jerse y Filed May 14, 1963, Ser. No. 280,329

Claims. (Cl.16-42) The present invention relates to furniture glides andmore particularly to glides adapted for attachment to tubular metalfurniture legs.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide such a furnitureglide which may quickly and easily be assembled to a tubular metalfurniture leg; to provide such a glide which when assembled to thefurniture leg cannot easily be removed therefrom by vandals; to providesuch a glide having a cushioning element which cushions any sudden loadplaced on the article of furniture to which it attached, thus tominimize any denting of floors such as linoleum; to provide such a glidewhich can be disassembled from the furniture leg for replacement of thecushioning element should the latter become worn or damaged; and ingeneral to provide such a glide which is simple and rugged inconstruction, economical in manufacture and attractive in appearance.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the glide assembled to a tubular metalfurniture leg shown fragmentarily;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the glide assembled to the leg, theview being taken from a 45 angle as indicated by the arrow 2 of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection of a retainer sleeve assembled to the furniture leg and theglide assembly prior to its assembly to the leg;

FIGURE 4 is a similar view showing the glide fully assembled to the leg;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view of the partially assembled glide,as viewed from the line 55 of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a similar view showing the glide fully assembled to thefurniture leg;

FIGURE 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIGURE5;

FIGURE 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 88 of FIGURE 5;and

FIGURE 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIGURE6.

Referring now in detail to this drawing, the new glide is there shown invarious stages of assembly to a tubular metal furniture leg 10, only thelowermost fragment of which is shown and which is also broken away inFIG- URES l-6. The leg 10 is here shown sloping as if it were the leg ofa chair, and the glide is designed to compensate for the slope so thatits floor-contacting surface lies flat on the floor (see FIGURES 3 and4).

In general the glide comprises a sheet metal retainer sleeve 11, anintegrally formed cast metal foot and shank element 12, a rubber orplastic cushioning element 13, and a metal Washer 14.

The retainer sleeve 11 is a cross-sectional square and has at its upperend four prongs 15 which extend upwardly from the four sides of thesleeve, and which extend normally inwardly and are of springable metal.This retainer sleeve 11 is forced into the open lower end of the tubularmetal furniture leg 10, the four corners of the sleeve biting into themetal of the inside wall of the leg so that the sleeve is securelyanchored inside the leg. The extreme lowermost end of the leg isthereafter turned 3,173,168 Patented Mar. 16, 1965 ice slightly inwardlyas indicated at 16 to additionally anchor the retainer sleeve 11 insidethe leg 10.

The floor-contacting foot 17 of the foot and shank element 12 isgenerally oval-shaped and its bottom surface is convex in form. Theupwardly extending shank 18 is of generally cylindrical form and has atits upper end a head 19 which is formed by undercuts 20 made in theshank on diametrically opposite sides thereof (see FIG- URES 3 and 5).The shank 18 is canted relative to the foot 17 to orient the shank withthe sloping furniture leg 10. The shank 18 has a region 21 intermediateits ends which is filleted on opposite sides of the shank for a purposehereinafter described.

In the final assembly of the glide to the furniture leg, the rubbercushioning element 13 and the metal washer 14 are first mounted on theshank 18 as seen in FIG- URES 3 and 5. With the retainer sleeve 11 inposition in the furniture leg 10, also as seen in FIGURES 3 and 5, theglide assembly is pushed upwardly into the leg with the shank 18entering the sleeve 11. The prongs 15 of the sleeve 11 are sprungoutwardly by the shanks head 19 to permit passage of the head therebyand thereafter the prongs 15 spring inwardly to engage behind the head19 and thus prevent removal of the glide assembly from the tubularfurniture leg 10. The filleted region 21 of the shank 18 engagesopposite inner Walls of the square sleeve 11 to prevent turning movementof the shank, thus maintaining the glide in properly oriented positionon the furniture leg.

Provision is made for removal of the glide assembly for replacement ofthe rubber cushioning element 13 should the latter become worn ordamaged. This is accomplished by first cutting away the damagedcushioning element. The foot and shank element 12 can then be pushedfarther up into the furniture leg 10 until the filleted region 21 of theshank 18 clears the squared body of the sleeve 11. The shank can then berotated 45 so that none of the four prongs 15 registers with theundercuts 20 in the shank 18, and the shank can then be Withdrawn fromthe sleeve 11. After replacing the cushioning element 13, the glideassembly can be reassembled to the leg 10 in proper orientation aspreviously described.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a simple and effectiveglide for a tubular metal furniture leg, and while but one specificembodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it willbe understood that numerous details thereof may be altered or omittedWithout departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1. In a furniture glide for attachment to the lower end of a tubularmetal furniture leg, a retainer sleeve adapted for insertion into africtional retention in the lower end of said furniture leg, saidretainer sleeve having a lower cross-sectionally squared portion and atits upper end a plurality of upwardly and normally inwardly-extendingspringable prongs, and a floor-contacting glide assembly having anupwardly-extending shank which is undercut at spaced points below theupper end to provide a head thereabove, said shank being also filletedintermediate its ends to engage sides of the square sleeve to preventturning movement of the shank within the sleeve, said shank beinginsertable upwardly through said retainer sleeve, and said prongs beingsprung outwardly by the head to permit passage of the head thereby, andthereafter springing inwardly to engage the said undercut recesses, saidshank being movable upwardly to free said filleted portion thereof fromsaid square sleeve to permit turning movement of the shank fordisengagement of said prongs with said recesses to permit withdrawal ofsaid glide assembly from said retainer sleeve.

2. A furniture glide according to claim 1 in which saidcross-sectionally square retainer sleeve is embedded into the inner wallof the tubular metal furniture leg.

3. A furniture glide according to claim 1 in which the undercuts aremade in the shank on diametrically-opposite sides thereof.

4. A furniture glide according to claim 1 in which the shank is providedwith a floor-contacting foot integrally formed on the lower end of theshank and in which a cushioning element is interposed between said footand 10 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,016,6542/12 Thompson l6-37 1,761,319 6/30 Vollmer l6-39 1,855,625 4/32 Darnell1642 1,954,458 4/34 North. 2,567,441 9/51 Miller 3,080,601 3/63 Kramcsok16-42 DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A FURNITURE GLIDE FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE LOWER END OF A TUBULARMETAL FURNITURE LEG, A RETAINER SLEEVE ADAPTED FOR INSERTION INTO AFRICTIONAL RETENTION IN THE LOWER END OF SAID FURNITURE LEG, SAIDRETAINER SLEEVE HAVING A LOWER CROSS-SECTIONALLY SQUARED PORTION AND ATITS UPPER END A PLURALITY OF UPWARDLY AND NORMALLY INWARDLY-EXTENDINGSPRINGABLE PRONGS, AND A FLOOR-CONTACTING GLIDE ASSEMBLY HAVING ANUPWARDLY-EXTENDING SHANK WHICH IS UNDERCUT AT SPACED POINTS BELOW THEUPPER END TO PROVIDE A HEAD THEREABOVE, SAID SHANK BEING SO FILLETEDINTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS TO ENGAGE SIDES OF THE SQUARE SLEEVE TO PREVENTTURNING MOVEMENT OF THE SHANK WITHIN THE SLEEVE, SAID SHANK BEINGINSERTABLE UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID RETAINER SLEEVE, AND SAID PRONGS BEINGSPRUNG OUTWARDLY BY THE HEAD TO PERMIT PASSAGE OF THE HEAD THEREBY, ANDTHEREAFTER SPRINGING INWARDLY TO ENGAGE THE SAID UNDERCUT RECESSES, SAIDSHANK BEING MOVABLE UPWARDLY TO FREE SAID FILLETED PORTION THEREOF FROMSAID SQUARE SLEEVE TO PERMIT TURNING MOVEMNT OF THE SHANK FORDISENGAGEMENT OF SAID PRONGS WITH SAID RECESSES TO PERMIT WITHDRAWAL OFSAID GLIDE ASSEMBLY FROM SAID RETAINER SLEEVE.